Found
by Triever
Summary: Sarah wakens in the Goblin Castle, not knowing how she got there. The Goblin King and his servant know, but are at a loss as to who she might be...


Jareth rode through the dream forest with his personal advisor and a few servants, returning from court in the High Castle. It had been a long trip, he was cranky – more so than normally, hungry, tired and impatient to get home. His Labyrinth might be a great way to keep out the enemy and let spoiled brats fight for their wished away, but it was an absolute pain to navigate in. Naturally, he always had his owl form, but his subjects would be left wandering for god knows how long. After all, he was the only one that could navigate through this place without ever making a wrong turn.

He could consider himself lucky his subjects weren't very talkative. Well, not anymore. They knew very well the King wasn't a man of many words – any everyone that was, was to be bogged.

Needless to say, when someone suddenly did speak up, it wasn't exactly welcome.

"S-sire!"

The Goblin King bared his teeth slightly in annoyance and turned to look at one of his subjects. "What?!"

The goblin cowered slightly and pointed to a place between the trees. "S-sire, there's something – or… someone, between the trees."

The king nodded to his right hand, mentioning him to go and look and the man bowed his head before dismounting his horse and moving to the form that had alarmed the goblin. There were a few rustling sounds before his advisor came back into view, holding an unconscious young woman in his arms. "Your highness, it is a woman!"

"How very observant of you, Delrach."

"What shall I do with her, sire?"

"Well, we do not know where it has been. Leave her."

The advisor looked at the unconscious woman and then back at the monarch, whom had already spurred his horse again. "Your highness!" The King pulled on the reins rather irritably and Delrach felt his heart quicken. "Please, your highness… You know the dangers of the Labyrinth better than anyone else. We cannot just leave her…"

The Goblin King let out a little grunt of irritation before turning back to the way ahead of them. "Fine. Carry her with you. You'll be working overtime to earn her wellbeing in the castle."

Even though Delrach didn't like the idea of working overtime for this unknown young woman, he couldn't possibly leave her here. Therewith, he couldn't work much longer than he did now, two hours tops.

But still – hopefully the woman would wake up and would feel fine. She probably had a home, a family, a job – a suitor. He quickly lifted her onto his horse, with a little help of two goblins, then mounted and hurried back to the king, whom hadn't really bothered to wait.

The woman sat limply in front of him, leaning back against him as he held one arm around her waist.

She was strange. He could instantly see she was a mortal, around twenty to twenty five years old. Her apparel was alien to him. He assumed she was a servant, considering she was wearing trousers and shoes without heels. Her hair was dark, long and straight, framing her pale, slightly freckled face.

She was a pretty little thing.

Not that mattered to the king – he'd leave an angel to rot if he felt like it.

"Delrach, keep your eyes on the path, if you please."

The servant looked up to the king, whom didn't seem to have looked around. But Delrach had been in his command since he was but a young boy, and even though only a few years were spent as his right hand he knew him well enough to know he practically had eyes in the back of his head. "Yes, sire."

The rest of the trip, which took roughly four more hours, was spent in silence. The woman hadn't awakened yet when they stopped and he wasn't quite sure what to do now. Much to his relief, the king spoke up as soon as the goblins helped Delrach lifting the woman from the horse. "Dump her in whichever room you see fit and meet me in my study in ten minutes. There are several things that need to be done before you can retire."

"Yes, your highness. Do you wish for me to have the staff prepare you dinner?"

"Some bread and soup will suffice."

"Yes, your highness." He bowed as the king left and looked down to the woman. He needed to get her a room and have someone watch over her while he finished his work and needed to have the king's dinner prepared within ten minutes. For him it would be possible, due to the labyrinth of servant hallways within the castle, but it would be a close call.

* * *

Sarah groaned and buried her head into some soft surface.

Was she in the infirmary?

She inhaled the scent which was a mix of dirt, rain and lavender.

Definitely not in the infirmary.

The woman pushed herself up, her eyes still closed as she rubbed her face. Once she opened her eyes there was only darkness around her. From one side of the room she could see a bit of light, presumably from the bottom of a door.

She moved towards it, adjusting her top and fixing her hair while her feet scanned for anything she might trip over. Her hand scanned blindly for a doorknob. Her hand turned and she pulled, light streaming into the room and temporarily blinding her.

Once her eyes got used to the dim light she frowned, looking down the stone hallway.

Was she dreaming?

The woman moved into the hallway, spotting a narrow window just a small distance away.

She made her way over to it, anxious to see what was out there. As she neared it someone came from around the corner near the window, whom she hit with full force. The woman lost her footing and she was certain she was going to hit the floor. But a hand grabbed hers and pulled her up a little roughly.

Looking up, Sarah looked straight into a pair of mismatched eyes. She instantly recoiled, violently jerking on his grip and stumbling back, nearly falling again. Her heart raced as she looked at him. His expression was mainly passive but there was a small hint of surprise in his eyes.

"What am I doing here? Why did you bring me here?"

"I didn't bring you here."

"Why am I here?"

His gaze shifted, looking at something over her shoulder. "Delrach, your woman has awakened."

"Your woman?" The woman muttered angrily, turning to face whomever he was talking to.

She looked at the slightly tan person that hurried over to her. His brown eyes were wide with concern, angular face set in worry and brown hair pulled back in a bun. He tried to pull her along, muttering a quiet beckoning. "Don't touch me! Who are you?" She demanded as she backed away, bumping into Jareth again.

Two firm hands gripped her shoulders. She jerked with her shoulders at which he loosened his grip a little but didn't let go. "Delrach, I hope you realize that I don't want you to keep your little pet here if she's going to be a nuisance."

"I am no one's pet!" The woman snapped, turning around to him and leaning close to him, standing on her tippy-toes. "Bring me back, right now."

He tilted his head and took hold of her chin. "Listen, kitten – you don't order around a King, it just doesn't work that way."

The woman didn't like the patronizing tone he used one bit. She growled, her teeth bared, and he tilted his head. "You haven't changed one bit, have you? You're as much of a prick as you were back then."

"You seem so certain we've met before… Should I know you? Perhaps you hit your head before my assistant found you."

"I did not hit my head!" She snapped as she slapped his hand away. "The only thing I'm going to hit is that smug face of yours."

"That!" He suddenly yelled angrily, making her jump before he leaned closer and purred to her. "…is quite enough." The king leaned back and stepped past her, his hands behind her back. "Your sharp tongue amuses me, though. I look forward to seeing you at dinner. In the mean time, stay in your room." He walked past her and past the tan guy behind her. "Delrach, please check up on the armor, report back to me before dinner."

"Yes, sire." Delrach bowed to the monarch's back, and then turned back to the woman. He blinked in surprise and looked around as he found the woman gone. Feeling conflicted he wondered whether he should go after the woman and risk being late or hope the woman wouldn't come across the king and he'd get back on time.

Begging the gods to be merciful and act in his favor he turned and headed for the armory.

Sarah wandered around the castle as she'd been doing for an hour now. At first it had been out of anger, trying to find a way back home, but she'd caught herself starting to wander out of curiosity. She'd calmed down and took her time to take everything in. She might as well, she was here now anyway, at least that's what she told herself.

She'd mostly taken in the views of the Labyrinth from each window, had been in a few more guest rooms, a gallery and turned heel at the ballroom.

Curiously, she opened another door and peeked in. She saw bookshelves at first, then looked further into the room and felt her heart leap as the blonde monarch at the other side of the room looked at her. Her cheeks flushed a deep red and she jumped back, pulling the door closed and running down the hallway as fast as she could.

She let out an audible 'oomph' as she ran into something.

Or rather, someone.

Looking up, she found herself almost nose to nose with the Goblin King. She spun around and bolted down the hallway again but found herself crashing into him again.

His arm wound around her waist and she gasped, his lips stretching in a sharp-toothed smirk. "What are you doing, wandering around my castle, when I ordered you to stay in your room, little doe?"


End file.
